Wednesday, November 02, 2016

THE AMERICAN ELECTION: AN EXERCISE IN SELF-MUTILATION


                          

A couple of months ago, during what seems an exhausting, stressful, never ending American election cycle, friends from the USA wrote begging prayer for their deeply troubled, self-mutilating country.

Ever since then this essay has been on and within my heart but every idea I came up with was rejected as being either finger wagging, vitriolic, smug, partisan – even though as a Canadian, obviously, I am not among the American electorate – or, I confess, pietistic.

Then unexpectedly yesterday clarity because not only the Gospel was the Beatitudes but I encountered someone who embodies the fundamental weakness both within left leaning and right leaning political parties/governments in modern democracies and why democratic governments, having caved and continuing to cave into the entitlement mindset, which poisons everyone and everything it touches, is devouring democracy as fiercely as terminal cancer devours human beings.

I had just left the light filled, warm, joyful rectory of a brother priest where we had enjoyed cake and coffee to celebrate the parish secretary’s birthday.

Stepping out into the cold wind and heavy wet snow, I walked the couple of blocks to the bus stop, noticing as I approached a middle-aged woman, not dressed for the weather, sitting in a wheel chair.

She motioned to me to come closer begging for money and a smoke as “It is my birthday.”

Taking care of the material request was simple but I could tell by her eyes what she truly hungered for, and so wished her a Happy Birthday and gave her a blessing.

Suddenly she was beaming and radiated with her smile gratitude she had been spoken with, seen as a real person.

That illuminated my heart about why I see the United States in this election cycle as self-mutilating, why I am profoundly concerned this will not end on November the 8th and why I am equally concerned modern democracies are eroding from within, irrespective if the governing party be from the left or the right, and see increasing and extremely dangerous anger and ballot box – for now – rebelliousness among the populations.

The clear majority of modern democracies trace their history back to a time when the world was divided between Christendom and that part of the human family where the Gospel had yet to penetrate.

Since WWII there has been, and continues to be, a determined rejection of and assault upon all things Christian, in Europe and North America as a matter of government policy, aided and abetted by media in all its forms and the so-called intelligentsia.

Those elites have become tone deaf to the Vox Populi because such elites are incapable of authentic recognition that every human being is one like myself.

Granted, what follows right here is an over simplification, but stresses the point:  for the rightist people are incapable of……..[put your own word here if you are a rightist]…………..for the leftist people don’t know that this…………..[again if a leftist insert your own label]…is best for them.

Democracy is only authentic and effective if it is centrist, via media, the middle way which, for example, neither imposes a religion NOR deliberately attacks religious belief and expression.

It is only in the mature centre, where can be a found a balance between the Gospel of Life and the exercise of authentic freedom of choice in all matters of faith and morals [this presumes a maturity that accepts responsibility for the consequences of choosing] that the clear voice of the people, as individual persons and the communal Vox Populi can be heard and what is being said discerned and responded to.

The current election cycle in the USA, with each contender for president seemingly inexhaustible in their capacity for other bashing and lying, has a cacophony of angry voices, megaphoned by profit driven and agenda driven media on both sides, creating an atmosphere scarily reminiscent of the lead up to the original American Civil War.

The woman, minus warm clothing, sitting in her wheelchair on a cold and wet snowy afternoon of her birthday, simply wanted to be heard, seen, recognized as a human being.

When governments, politicians, indeed any of us, fail to see other as one like myself, fail to respond to the basic need to be recognized as, and spoken with, listened to, as a person worthy of love, dignity, irrespective of race, religion, status, political leaning, then the heart of such of our brothers and sisters is wounded ever more severely by such rejection and our failure to see them, hear them, deepens the wound.

Increasingly so wounded some retreat into despair, depression, addictions, while others become extremists of all sorts.

Beneath the veneer of a democratic election, and dangerously so, within the American population is an ever-increasing segment of the population alienated to a dangerously explosive juncture, not least because both political parties have chosen as candidate someone clearly unable to stop by our sister in her wheel chair and see her, hear her, speak to her love’s code word: Happy Birthday!



  




Friday, July 08, 2016

HIS BLOOD, THEIR BLOOD, OUR BLOOD


                                            

Until sunlight hits raindrops at the right angle the drops are translucent. A simple fact.

Once sunlight hits them at the right angle we marvel at the beauty of rainbows.

Another simple fact.

Why then do seemingly so many human beings fail to embrace the simple fact pigmentation is ONLY skin deep?

Within the external covering is the same red blood and the simple fact is that within the depth of our humanity each and every one of us IS the same colour.

Racism is a choice to be ensnared in prejudice, hatred, willful blindness as refusal to see other as one like myself.

No one can claim to be a true Christian or Jew or Muslim, for example, if our hearts are cesspools of hate towards another human being, for to hate my brother or sister is to choose to hate God Himself who sent His only begotten Son as one like us to shed His Blood for us, to redeem us, commanding us to love one another as He loves us.

The Dallas snipers, the Orlando terrorist, the 9/11 terrorists, the Ottawa shooter/terrorist, those around the world such as ISIS and Boko Haram, are willfully blind haters.

 When they appear before the awesome judgment seat of God He will hear the voice of their brothers’ blood crying out from the earth. [cf. Gn. 4: 10,11]

The blood of every human being whether murdered by abortion, by gun, by bomb, one on one or in the darkness of concentration camps is the blood of God become man, Jesus Christ: is the blood of each one of us.

Soaking the earth over the millennia with the blood of our brothers and sisters we human beings would go insane from the unremitting screaming of the oceans of blood which have, which do, saturate the earth and unless a greater soaking had/does occur, only the crying of their blood would/will be heard by our heavenly Father.

We would be forever imprisoned in our sin, forever without hope and this earthly existence would be cruel, pointless, devoid of hope, remaining forever unredeemed.

“As I passed by I saw you in your blood. So I said to you, ‘Let there be life out of your blood…’” [Ez. 16:6]

Who passed by?

The same who said/says: “…..make haste, come down, for today I must stay at your house.” [Lk. 19:5] and “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him and he with Me.” [Rv. 3:20] and “This is My Blood of the new covenant which is shed for many” [Mk. 14:24] and it is said of Him: “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became as great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” [Lk. 22:44] and “….one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear and immediately blood and water came out.” [Jn. 19:34]

It is Jesus who passing by sees us writhing in our blood, up in the tree of our own pride, fears, sins, who knocks constantly at the door of our being that we might allow Him to enter and cleanse our hearts of all hatred and violence, who offers His own life-giving Blood to us in the Holy eucharist that mingled with our own His Blood might dominate our beings that we would love one another as He loves us from whom the earnestness and intensity of His agonizing prayer for us causes His blood to fall to the ground, also falling from His pierced side.

His Blood seeps into the earth and mutes the cries of all the blood shed since Cain until the end of time from a cry for justice into His cry for mercy from the Father upon us, for forgiveness and the chance in each of our lives, in our communal life on this earth in each moment in Him to begin again.

His Blood cries hope, mercy, redemption.

St. John XXII in an Apostolic Letter from 1960 on devotion to, and confidence in, the Most Precious Blood of Jesus reminds us that: “Unlimited is the effectiveness of the God-Man’s Blood – just as unlimited as the love that impelled Him to pour it out for us….”

Hatred breeds violence, the violent hatefully shed blood.

Love engenders understanding, compassion, clear eyes which, like raindrops kissed by the sun see the beauty of diversity knowing the essence of each raindrop is the same one to another.

IF we allow the light of Christ, Christ Himself who shed His Blood for us, to illuminate our souls, hearts, conscience, thoughts, then we shall see each other as He and the Father sees us and we shall love one another.

From the litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus:

Blood of Christ poured out on the Cross….price of our salvation….stream of mercy…victor over demons…help of those in peril…relief of the burdened…solace in sorrow….consolation of the dying….peace and tenderness of hearts….SAVE US!